March 2010 - Vendor of the Month - Oskarsson

'Oskarsson' is a self-reinforcing bio-magnetic structure moving
through a space-time continuum... no, don't stop reading, I'm just
messing with you. I'm 49 years old and I live in Gothenburg,
Sweden. Been working in a lot of places in my day before I finally
settled on this 3D thing.

How long have you been creating digital
art?

For a very long time. I started back in the 80's. I worked as a
printer then, and I remember using the company's Macintosh. I
scanned in a drawing and used this new 'clone' tool to clone a part
of the drawing. I remember thinking how much time I could save
working like that. The fact that it took 15 minutes to set the
whole thing up barely registered...LOL. I started using 3D on the
Amiga in the mid 80's: applications like Imagine, Caligari3D and
the first versions of Lightwave. You couldn't do much then.
Building a sphere with reflections was state of the art. Rendering
it took half an hour. If you wanted to change something, you had to
start all over again! Very time consuming.

In the 90's, things became more useful. I did a lot of comics
and I could use the computer for things like speech ballons and
fonts that looked like they were written by hand. The interest in
3D was always there, but for a long time drawing comics was my main
interest. I spent 18 months building my own platform game using an
engine called 3DRad. That was 2001-02, I think. It didn't sell very
well, but I learned a lot from that experience. After that,
creating 3D content became more and more important to me.

Have you had any traditional art experience or
training?

None whatsoever. I started drawing comics when I was 7 and
things kind of grew out of that. Same with the 3D stuff. I'm
interested in it, so I learn it.

What are you currently working on?

Almost finished 'Oskarsson's Thunderstruck'. A complete package
for V4: hair, custom character, textures and casual clothing. After
that, possibly a 'combat nun,' a werewolf, or something with hair
(since I've found out that Dynamic hair is actually pretty good to
work with). I think I finally found out how to do a convincing
werewolf. Would like to do original figures, but they eat up a lot
of time.

What software is in your digital toolset and
why?

Lightwave, Zbrush and Photoshop. The holy trinity. Zbrush has
changed the way I work forever. So many good things in this
application. The way you can build clothes in a couple of minutes!
The fact that you can paint over UV-seams. You can make morphs easy
as sculpting with clay. Also, the fact that I bought one of the
earliest versions of the application and they have given me free
upgrades ever since! I use Ligtwave for precision work, when I need
to do point-editing or Uv-mapping. Or just build stuff.

How would you describe your creative
process?

I like to do things that challenge me on a technical level:
products where I have to figure new things out. Trying to make
something work that I've never done before. That often leads to new
discoveries, in turn, giving me ideas for other products. I often
start by building a low resolution mesh that can be easily
manipulated and Uv-mapped. It's only when I'm almost finished that
I subdivide it into the final resolution, before importing it into
Poser for rigging.

Where do you find inspiration for your products, and do
you have any particular favorite there?

I am very lucky in that I have a very active imagination. It's
not always useful, but in this particular line of work it is. I
like to look at pictures that spark some kind of creative idea in
me. I often look at pictures on 'Flickr,' because you can do a
search for illustrators that you like there, or any subject, and
there's a zillion pictures of that!

I like vintage clothing, particulary the 50's and the victorian
age. Comic books, obviously. The silver age of comics, Kirby and
Romita. Japanese art, concept art. I'm also inspired by
horror-movies, both old and new.

Have you ever created product in response to customer
feedback?

Not that I remember. I promised this guy I would do a custom
morph of a character with Downes syndrome as soon as the V4 kids
are released. Not sure if that is going to be a product or not.
Customers sometimes have perfectly reasonable requests for add-ons
or matching products for V4 and M4. However, it is difficult for me
to revisit a product that I've already done. The interest is just
not there, and it will begin to feel like work instead of
fun....

Do you have any advice for aspiring Digital Content
Developers?

Don't do generic V4 characters with eight makeup colors. I know
it's tempting, but just don't do it. There's enough already and the
market is over-saturated. And when you do promotion pictures, don't
do the one where Victoria puts her finger in her mouth and looks
like her brains are melting. Please? As a personal favour to me? I
caved in once, I wanted to fit in and be like everybody else. I
used the-finger-in-the-mouth pose on a promotion, I think it was on
'Oskarsson's Victorian.' I've felt soiled and dirty ever since (not
a totally unpleasant feeling, but I digress...).

On the level of more practical advice, synergy is the way to go.
Learn from different places, make different applications work
together, make it fit! Maybe a plugin from an unexpected place can
be used for a product? Try to think outside the box.

When trying to break into the market, I have found that a good
mix of products have worked very well for me. On one side, I have
the highly original, some would say weird, products. On the other
side, I have more conventional products, things that people can
actually recognize.

Now, the weird stuff doesn't sell that well (it's doing okay,
nothing spectacular), but it attracts attention by the way it
looks. It makes people remember my name, which is very important
because after you've seen a name for a while, you begin to think
that you can trust that guy and his products. The weird stuff also
draws people to my store because they become curious.

I'm making this sound like I have this big business plan, but
it's nothing like that, it's just the way I work :) So...don't give
up. You have to stick around long enough for people to recognize
your name. Try something new every now and then. If you learn one
new fact or one new way of doing things every week, you'll be
pretty good after one year.

This is all about helping people to make cool renders! Most
people don't have the time to build their own content and that's
where we come in!

How has this online Community (Renderosity) enhanced
your work, relationships, and learning?

I am very, very grateful for the community and Renderosity
itself. It has changed my life. Two years ago, I worked in a
factory lifting heavy stuff. I think that was the actual job
description - lifting heavy stuff. On top of that, I was working
for a temp agency. It was not a good place to be at my age. Now,
thanks to Renderosity and all the nice people here, I work as a
vendor full-time! I can sit very comfortably in front of my
computer, listening to music while I'm having fun! And if I want to
take a little nap after dinner, no one can stop me!

I also made some great friends in the community! So, yeah, I
love you guys!

Do you have any final words?

I hope that you're having as much fun as I'm having! I love this
job and I hope that you do too!

Article Comments

Chapeau to this man :) Really a master, not just with the mesh... with the wise words also. Congrats and well deserved!

Shari123 ()
posted at 4:50PM Thu, 04 March 2010

Congratulations!! It's a well deserved honor!!

PaganArtist ()
posted at 7:48PM Thu, 04 March 2010

Big congratulations you earned it bud!

texboy ()
posted at 1:44PM Fri, 05 March 2010

Congratulations, brother; your work is top-notch!!

visionastral ()
posted at 5:41PM Fri, 05 March 2010

Congratulations to the weirdest 3D maker of the poser world! By the way, I'm the kind of customer who buy your weird stuf ;)

bfleishe ()
posted at 12:51AM Sat, 06 March 2010

Congratulations ! I love your figures, your comments, your promos. I especially like the english schoolgirl. The lines and shapes in her face go against the way I think it should be, but the result is that she looks PERFECT!

eltoro3D ()
posted at 2:20AM Sat, 06 March 2010

That´s really Awesome -- I love you strange stuff .. reminds a lot of doing Commercial Horror-Art What I always do..Maybe one Time I use one of your product.. Well deserve

karanta ()
posted at 3:44AM Sun, 07 March 2010

Congratulation :) Well deserved!

matsmolund ()
posted at 5:48AM Sun, 07 March 2010

Characters with character. Congratulations from Stockholm.

StarChildSong ()
posted at 10:31AM Tue, 09 March 2010

Congrats!! Brilliant. One of my favorite creators of all time. May your source of imaginative never expire.